Marine biofouling is a major concern in the operational performance of submerged floating tunnels (SFTs). The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of marine fouling (represented by surface roughness) on the hydrodynamic behavior of SFTs, including the hydrodynamic forces on the SFT subject to current-only, wave-only, and combined current-wave flow conditions. The effects of increased surface roughness induced by marine fouling on the dynamic response of an SFT are characterized by hydrodynamic force coefficients, including drag and inertia coefficients. At the Water Lab of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), experiments have been performed in a wave-current flume to compare the SFTs’ behaviors as affected by different roughness characteristics. In addition, a parametric cross-section for an SFT is presented, and the hydrodynamic performance associated with surface roughness effects on the parametric shape and circular SFT cross-section shape are compared. The results show that the parametric shape can effectively reduce the drag coefficient (C_d) under current-only conditions and lower the inertia coefficient (C_m) when waves are present. As roughness height and coverage ratio increase, C_d generally increases while C_m decreases. However, small differences in C_d and C_m can be observed with regard to roughness parameters for wave-only conditions. The Morison coefficients adapted for a marine-fouled SFT measured in the experiments are compared to predictions from engineering standards and are recommended for engineering practice.

The effects of surface roughness as induced by marine fouling on the hydrodynamic forces on a submerged floating tunnel (SFT) are experimentally and numerically investigated in detail at Reynolds numbers Re = 8.125 × 10³–5.25 × 10⁴. A sensitivity analysis to different roughness parameters including roughness height, skewness, coverage ratio, and spatial arrangement is performed. In addition, an optimized parametric cross-section for an SFT is proposed, and the hydrodynamic performance of the parametric shape and circular SFT cross-section shape with roughness elements is compared. The pressure distribution along the SFT, flow separation and wake characteristics are analyzed to provide a systematic insight into the fundamental mechanism relating the roughness parameters and flow around an SFT. In order to better understand the nonlinear relationships among structural geometry, roughness parameters, flow states, and structural response, an artificial intelligence method using Random Forest (RF) for feature importance ranking is applied. The results show that with the parametric shape, the hydrodynamic forces on the fouled SFT can be effectively mitigated. The roughness height and coverage ratio affect the equivalent blockage and hence, change flow separation and recirculation length in the wake. Lower skewness of the roughness elements can increase the critical Re by changing the relative roughness parameter. Horizontal arrangement of the roughness elements on an SFT generally results in the largest hydrodynamic forces, compared to staggered and vertical distributions. Throughout the feature importance ranking, the flow regime is found to be the most important feature of the hydrodynamics of the SFT. In addition, the SFT cross-section shape and roughness coverage ratio play a dominant role.